‘You’re dark skinned so you’ll have to work harder’

Denzel Washington tells daughter that she must become a 'triple threat' to succeed in the industry

Written by Dionne Grant
14/11/2012 10:22 AM

Image Text:

ADVICE: Denzel Washington

OSCAR-WINNING actor Denzel Washington has told his daughter that she’ll have to work harder in the film industry because she is a dark-skinned woman.

The 57-year-old, who is currently promoting new film Flight of which he stars, revealed details of the candid chat with his 21-year-old daughter Olivia, an aspiring actress, during the Hollywood Reporter’s annual actor’s roundtable, reports The Grio.

He explained: “I tell my daughter — she’s at NYU — I say: ’You’re black, you’re a woman, and you’re dark-skinned at that. So you have to be a triple/quadruple threat.’”

Washington, who was joined on the roundtable by fellow actors Jamie Foxx, Matt Damon and Richard Gere, went on to reveal that he advised Olivia to look for inspiration from Academy award nominee, and star of The Help, Viola Davis.

“I said: ‘You gotta learn how to act. You gotta learn how to dance, sing, move onstage.’ That’s the only place, in my humble opinion, you really learn how to act. I said: ‘Look at Viola Davis.’ I said That’s who you want to be. Forget about them little pretty girls,” he said.

In the interview the actor also revealed that all of his four children are in the film ‘business,’ or are embarking on a career similar to his. His oldest son, John David, 28, who had a brief stint in the NFL, co-produced 2010′s Book of Eli.

Denzel’s youngest son, Malcolm, 21, is a senior at the University of Penn with plans to enter USC’s film school upon graduation. While his oldest daughter, Katia, 24, is involved in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming ‘slavery-themed western’ Django Unchained.